Converting the price-driven to loyal
As it gears up to fly its 100th million passenger by the third quarter this year, Asia’s first low cost airline, AirAsia, is working on how to turn price-sensitive customers into loyal ones.The airline will be launching a frequent flyer programme soon and Kathleen Tan, regional head of commercial, [...]
The lonely and unreasonable generation
My “IT butler” came round the other evening to install my new wireless Brother printer. Malcolm is a bit like my personal manual – I don’t like to read manuals – so I order things from him and he comes to fix them for me.“It’s very easy,” he invariably says. “You just need to know [...]
Cleartrip out to make the world smaller
If you think the world is small enough, well, Cleartrip of India wants to make it smaller.It will be launching its new product, SmallWorld, on May 10 at the Arabian Travel Mart in Dubai and what SmallWorld aims to do, according to founder & director, product and strategay, Hrush Bhatt, is offer [...]
Hot or Not? A General Manager’s Take
Hansruedi Frutiger, general manager of Movenpick Resort & Spa, Phuket, takes a moment to share his views on digital media and customer service in this video moment with WIT.
Job hunting in the age of social media
Although the web has provided great ways and tools to make job hunting easier and more time effective, who you know continues to be the single most decisive factor. Stéphane Pingaud, a senior marketing professional with 15 years’ experience in travel technology, tells about his job hunting experi [...]
Video hasn’t killed the rock band, but could it kill text?
The stadium exploded in a flash of light. The band went straight into a blistering version of “Highway Star”.Deep Purple was back in Singapore and from the first note, the band showed they meant serious business when it came to playing a brand of music they’ve been true to for more than 40 y [...]
Buyer applications exceed expectations
Five months before ITB Asia, more than 900 travel industry buyers have already applied for hosted buyer status.Limiting the final amount of hosted buyers to 700 has encouraged buyers to apply early. ITB Asia exhibitors favour this arrangement as it allows them to complete their appointment schedul [...]
TripAdvisor sets up in Singapore, Marc Charron to head APAC
Recognising the enormous potential for growth in Asia Pacific, TripAdvisor® is continuing its march into the region.More than half of the traffic to TripAdvisor branded sites comes from outside the US, said the company in a statement announcing the appointment of Marc Charron as managing director f [...]
Get search right or we risk losing it to Google
In the final part of his series on search, Timothy O’Neil Dunne talks about where the true C-Spot in search should be and how travel players must get it right or risk surrendering the ground to Google.In the first article on this topic, I laid out where I felt that search was going.In Part 2, I pr [...]
The money is in owning longtail supply, says Lerch
With margins being squeezed at every point of the supply chain, the future for traditional outbound tour operators is in destination management and to own longtail supply.Hans Lerch, vice chairman of the Migros Group of Switzerland, which owns Hotelplan, and recently appointed “caretaker global CE [...]
